I guess I'm giving up!

I don't know if I have documented adequately the problems I've been having with my training for the MS-150. The entire thing can be paraphrased in one sentence; I have not been able to get on my bike since April 26th.

I may have mentioned pain in my left ankle, knee, hip and lower back in a previous post or two. Well it got so bad I couldn't even ride on my indoor trainer for more than 15 or 20 minutes!

I went to the guy who did my Lumbar Fusion in 2003. He thinks I have inflammation and possibly nerve damage in my Sacrum. He tells me that when the spine is fused as mine is at the lower Lumbar area it can no longer move in relation to the Sacrum as intended. He said even small changes in a persons gait can over time lead to inflammation and other damage. That could make sense. When I ride I usually ride at a cadence of 90 rpm. That means that in one 60 minute ride my legs revolve 5400 times.

Anyway I'm doing physical therapy now, taking anti inflammatory and using plenty of heat and ice. The bottom line though is I cannot get on my bike and I can only walk about 20 minutes per day. That is NOT where I needed to be by now in my training. I was shooting for 10 hours per week on my bike.

Facts are facts, I just have to accept the ones that tell me this is not going to be the victory I thought it was going to be in my recovery. As it turns out this is something else to recover from.

Training for the MS-150

Or maybe this post should be titled 'Lack of Training for the MS-150'. 

I have not been able to get on my bike since April 26th.  On that day I began getting what can only be described as excruciating pain in my left ankle, knee, hip and my lower back while riding.  It was so bad I could only pedal for a couple minutes then I would have to get off my bike or if I could coast unclip my left foot and let it hang.

I went to my Doctor and had x-rays of my lower back to make sure my fusion was still intact.  Those were OK.  I then had a bike fit done at the shop where I bought my bike.  Even after that I still couldn't ride.  So... I now have an appointment at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine with the famous Andy Pruitt.  It is a medical evaluation but I can't get in until May 30th.  That does not leave me a lot of time to get ready for the MS-150 on July 7 and 8.

Stay tuned....

Training Setback

I don't know what is up the last several days but I can't ride my bike more than 25 minutes without getting excruciating pain in my left ankle, knee and hip.  I end up having to "limp" home either getting off the bike every few minutes or if I can coast I can unclip my left foot and let my left leg hang.

This is not good as I was hoping to increase my training days by 1 each week and start increasing my time on the bike to.  I'm set up for a bike fit a week from this Saturday.  We'll see if that helps but if it was something in the fit of the bike I don't think it would come on so suddenly.

Never follow strangers!

My preparation for my ride is going average at best I have to say.  I was supposed to start riding 5 days per week this week but I had to hold it at 4.  My legs have felt like lead!  I did have a good ride today though.  I also learned something.  Never follow a rider you don't know; expecting them to get you where you want to go.

I got a bit disoriented on today's ride so I started to follow a rider who seemed to be going in the direction I wanted to.  When this happens, and it happens often, the rule is that I'm supposed to call my wife.  The problem with me and rules though is remembering them.  Well I lost my guide and I ended up in the projects', the hood, the barrio around downtown Denver!

As I rode through a group of 6 very large African American men (did I say VERY LARGE!) standing in the middle of the street, wearing blue 'doo rags' I realized that I didn't really blend in.  Nobody else was riding a fancy, red Spanish racing bike, wearing a  Helmet, gloves and goofy, skin tight, Lycra shorts.  Let's please try to forget the image of the milk white legs sticking out of them.  (A little honesty here is in order; even on Lance Armstrong cycling shorts look GOOFY!  The more high tech they are the goofier they look.)

My wife, who is full blooded Mexican, lived part of her childhood in that neighborhood.  Her Dad lived in that neighborhood.  My older sister lived there for several years with her children.  My Dad was brought up not in that neighborhood but just blocks to the north.  Sometimes I have gone there with my wife and her family or my family.  But only StrokeBoy would end up there alone, on a bike, wearing those damn skin tight Lycra cycling shorts and not having a clue how he got there or how to get home.  Thank the Good Lord my shorts are black and not some silly color like pink that you see in the Tour De France.  The only way I could have made this worse is if I had done it in the middle of the night.  Stay tuned because I very quickly unlearn the lessons I learn.

Anyway it all ended fine because I ended up home and I'm writing this.  The part that amuses me is that I almost never remember how I get home, I just end up here.  I'm sure my wife Awesome Chick is just thrilled about that.  I remember a few details of my ride, like today's visit the turf of the Crips, but very little else.  Geese if a cop had seen me I would have probably been arrested for simply being clueless and out of my mind.  No doubt I would have been guilty on all counts and sentenced to life I'm sure.

Fox Hollow Hill Goes Down!

Yesterday I made it up a hill; I call it The Fox Hollow Hill. Let me explain. The last time I made it up that hill was roughly 19 months ago. It is a long steep hill and it comes at the mid-point in my ride so I was not real fresh. Nineteen months ago I spun up that hill with a cadence of 75 and in a mid-range gear! Yesterday I made it up in the tiniest gear my drive train has to offer with a cadence of roughly 30 rpm. (That can be decoded using the StrokeBoy Super Secret Decoder Ring as… WAY below 30)

The Fox Hollow Hill is important because a couple weeks after riding up that hill 19 months ago an artery in my neck broke and sent clots to just about every part of my brain, including the largest clot in my brain stem. Praise God that he guided those clots as He did and that He held me close as they went about doing their damage.

I started training again prior to September of 2006. I started out 10 minutes per day, three days per week on a stationary bike. That was almost TOO MUCH! I have tried The Fox Hollow Hill three previous times; only to be forced to turn back; once I think before the grade even started to increase. Is that possible?!

I'm not talking about victory over illness; I'm still StrokeBoy and will be for the rest of my life. I’m not talking about a great training goal attained.

I was riding at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. At the top of the hill I could see almost forever to the North, East and South. To the West were green, purple and brown snow capped mountains. The air was crisp at about 50 degrees but the sun was so warm I had to remove my wind shell. I just sat there experiencing the view, the temperature, the silence and feeling of being King of the Hill. As I peacefully sat there a coyote walked within 20 feet of me. He let me know I was more the Court Jester and he was the King of Fox Hollow Hill.

I love riding. Riding my bike takes me back to the time when things were different, simpler; not better mind you. The pain and monotony of training are only so I can capture moments like today. There was nothing heroic or strong in the moment; quite the opposite in fact. As reality set in and I contemplated the journey of me and my family this past nineteen months a lump formed in my throat and I couldn’t hold back the tears. More than anything my wife, son, daughter, all my family and friends gave me that moment. No, no feeling of victory, just profound thanks.

Lord grant peace and healing of all those touched by the shootings in Vermont.

Intermediate Goals

I'm beginning to seriously think of intermediate goals that I would like to meet on the way to my July 7-8 MS-150 attempt.

I first started on an indoor trainer 15 minutes per day, three days per week. When I started with CTS roughly 10 weeks ago I started training 4 days per week. I had to do all my rides on the indoor trainer as I wasn't conditioned enough to ride on the road. Then I began to ride the first "portion" of my rides outside and finished them up inside on the trainer. I gradually increased the amount of time outside and decreased the amount of time inside. My very first goal became to be able to ride outside 4 full workouts in one week.

This week I achieved that goal, or at least I expect to. It is only Thursday and I have 3 days left to get my 4th ride of the week in. So with that in mind I've come up with the following intermediate goals.

W/E Apr 1	4 rides 4.5 hours	Achieved
W/E Apr 8	4 rides, 4.5 hours	Stay here while I get used to new bike and gearing, I went from a triple to double chain ring.
W/E Apr 15	5 rides, 5 hours
W/E Apr 22	6 rides 5.5 hours
W/E Apr 29	6 rides 6 hours

This leaves me with the entire months of May and June to increase the number of hours that I ride each week using a 6 ride per week plan. As I've noted before, my goal is to be fit enough to finish the ride and enjoy the entire thing. I have more lofty goals in mind after this one.

Feeling good today

I feel pretty good today considering I had a hard ride yesterday. The adrenaline of being on a new bike I think caused me to push myself a bit hard. I rode all the way to Golf Course Hill at Fox Hollow Golf Course. I actually couldn't make it up the hill, I only got half way up. The reason is conditioning and the Opal only has two chain rings. Welcome to the big legues!

I was also a bit sore today, in a good way. I can tell my body isn't used to the new geometry of the Opal. I also heeded the WRC persons advice and concentrated on keeping my shoulders down, back flat, bend at the hips and elbows bent.

By the way, this is a picture of my new ride.

A down day

Well not really a down day but I'm still wiped out from my class on Saturday. When I do a training ride on my bike two days in a row I'm always very tired the next day. It's amazing how much more mental work can wipe me out than physical work. All I wanted to do today was sit around, sleep and of course eat.Awesome Chick knew I was having a hard time and she knew I was supposed to ride my bike today and she also knew that if I just get on my bike and go I always feel better after a few minutes. So what did she do? She left work early and came home and encouraged me to get on my bike, she even rode with me. She was right, by the time I had ridden two blocks I was feeling like I wanted to ride for hours. I'm so blessed to have a great wife and also that I still have my physical abilities.

Field Test - Where's the O2 ?

Today was the big day, my second Field Test! My big plans of doing it outside got shot down but that's only temporary. Once I have more practice and get off the blood thinners it's off the trainer and on the road full time for me; at least while the whether is good.

I was really happy with my results. I worked a lot harder this time but only because I was capable of working harder. If I had anything left to give I don't know where it was. When I got off the trainer each time I felt like I was trying suck every single molecule of oxygen out of the room and get it to my muscles before my legs collapsed.

I recovered real well. My stats on the second 8 minute interval were actually better than the first and both were far better than the last time I did a FT at the end of January.
Previous FT
Interval 1Elapsed Time : 00:08:00
Average BPM : 144
Maximum BPM : 158
Average Cadence : 94
Perceived Exertion: 8

Interval 2
Elapsed Time : 00:08:00
Average BPM : 141
Maximum BPM : 150
Average Cadence : 89
Perceived Exertion: 8

This FT
Interval 1
Elapsed Time : 00:08:00
Average BPM : 153
Maximum BPM : 173
Average Cadence : 95
Perceived Exertion: 9 - very difficult
Interval 2
Elapsed Time : 00:08:00
Average BPM : 158
Maximum BPM : 176
Average Cadence : 100
Perceived Exertion: 9 - very difficult

Field Test

Well I got taken down a notch! Awesome Chick who is always watching out for me made sure she checked with my doctors, I have kind of like an entire college of doctors, and I got some bad news.
My neurologist is fine with me doing training rides but wants me to stick to bike paths for now. This is for two reasons, one is that I'm still on big time blood thinners. I sort of forgot about that little detail. I have a beard now because when I shaved if I nicked myself I'd bleed all day. The other reason is that because I have lost most of my vision in my left eye the center line of "my world" is shifted quite a bit to the right. He wants me to get more practice riding and to be off the blood thinners before I do an all out effort outside, especially on a street.
So...I'll be busting a gut on my trainer in the morning.
I hate it when I have to give in to clear thinking and logic.

Workout 3/14/06

Today was a good workout. I did it on the trainer because the instructions suggested doing the Power Intervals indoors. I'm happy with how my heart is responding. I can really control it and it gets back into zone quickly after an effort like a PI.

Legs of Lead

I'm in the 10th week of my program. The first 4 were actually a bust because of health reasons so I consider this week 6. WOW, Mommy never told me it would be like this! I'm fatigued with heavy limbs and I can't get enough sleep. The good news is my RHR is as low as it has ever been. I'm really having to dig deap just to even look at my bike let alone get on it and ride.
Today's workout includes several Power Intervals and the instructions say it can be good to do those inside on the trainer. That will help me get going.

Needed Rest Day

Today is a day off from my cycling training. It is much needed. On one hand it is kind of a bummer that after only two days with one hour rides each day I need a day off. But a few weeks ago I was in much worse shape after only riding one day for a lot less time. I had to juggle my schedule so I didn't have two days in a row of training. I'd call that progress.

Feeling Freedom

Today I think was the third time that I rode my bike outside. First I have to say that the Power Starts prescribed in my workout are much harder on the road than on a trainer; as everything else is. But today after I think five weeks of finally being able to get a fairly regular training schedule I felt that high that I get when my heart, lungs and legs are all working perfectly and I'm just cruising along in the zone. I had this feeling that I'm on the verge of becoming free, that my bike is my ticket to freedom.

Really when you think about it I can take my bike 75% of the places I need to go 75% of the time or more here in Denver.

I'm ready to

fly!

Technorati tags: Stroke Recovery, Cycling

Cycling Again!

I've been working out on the bike again. FINALLY!! It's been about a month now. I started on the wind trainer, only three days per week, about a half an hour each time. I'm up to four days per week and I even have riden outside a couple times this week.

I signed up with Train Right. It is Chris Charmichael's system. I'm on the cheapest program but right now it has been a great help. It's great to know that I have a good program created for me and to get on the forums and actually communicate with fellow athletes. Did I call myself a athlete. Hmmm maybe the old self esteem is coming back a bit.